Machine for cracking nuts.



Patented Aug. 29. I899.

H- CLAUGHTON, necd.

E T. FENWIGK, Administrator. MAGHINE FOR CRACKING NUTS.

(Application filed June 1, 1899.)

(No Model.)

VIEWS .4

THE mmzls PETERS cu. PNoYaLiruQ. msnmu'nm. n. c.

Unrrn' STATES ATiENT FFrcE.

EDW'ARD T. FENW-ICK, OF \VASIIINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUHRIA,ADMINISTRATOR OF HENRY OLAUGIITON, DECEASED.

MACHINE FOR CRACKING NUTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters latent No. 632,216, dated August29, 1899.

Application filed June 1, 1899, Serial No. 719,046. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD T. FENWICK, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of WVashington, District of Columbia, administrator ofthe estate of HENRY OLAU'cnroN, deceased, late a subject of the Queen ofGreat Britain, and a resident of Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster,England, do hereby declare that the following is such a full, clear, andexact description of the Improvements in Machines for CrackingPalm-Nuts, invented by the said HENRY CLAUGHTON during his life, as willenable others skilled in the art for which it is produced to make anduse the same.

This invention has for its object a machine for cracking palm-nuts ornuts of a like description, so as to divide the outer shell and separatethe kernel therefrom.

The invention will be understood from the following description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 isahalf front view of the machine with the casing removed andhalf-sectional elevation; Fig. 2, a cross-section.

Referring to the figures, A are cylinders or drums with steel bars orprojections B on their peripheries acting as shearing-blades. The drumsare mounted on a rotary shaft 0, revolving in bearings D on a bed-plateE, said shaft being provided with a fly-wheel F. The shaft may be drivenby pulleys G or any other suitable arrangement or be worked by hand. Thedrums A are partly inclosed in a frame or casing H, and there is astrong fence or barrier I, located adjacent to each disk, having afeeding-spout J, by which the nuts are fed against the periphery of eachdrum. The fences or barriers I are mounted on the frame E, and they havea steel projection or bars K extending just sufliciently far from thefence I toward the periphery of the drum A so as to hold the nuts andprevent them before being cracked from falling down between saidprojection and drum, while allowing the projections B on the drum topass it. The projection K is a little below the top of the fence, so asto constitute a recess large enough to hold one nut at a time.

L is a screw working through a nut of the fence, whereby the latter canbe adjusted nearer to and away from the cylinder and then locked by thepins M in position.

In action the uncracked nuts are fed into the feeding-spout J, theforemost nut drop-' ping into the recess formed by the projection K, inwhich position it is in the path of the revolving ribbed periphery ofthe drum A. It is here acted on by the ribbed periphery of the drum, theteeth of which advancing toward the nut crack it and split open theshell, the kernel falling into a receptacle below as it parts with thebroken pieces of the shell. The empty space will be at once refilled bythe next nut in the feeding-spout, and so on in rotation, theprojections on bars B on the peripheries of the drum acting upon thenuts in succession, the projection K affording a barrier as the nutspass down the feedingspout and insure each nut being cracked by theteeth B.

A riddle with mesh to divide the kernels from the broken outer shellsand for sorting the nuts and a brush for cleaning the meshes may beprovided, if required.

In the drawings are shown four separate drums arranged on. a shaft. Itis obvious, however, that any other suitable number may be employed.

The invention differs materially from cidermills and apple-pulping millsin which apples are subjected to a pulping action, each apple beingoperated upon annmber of times before being discharged or released. Theinvention is designed solely for cracking nuts, and the parts are soconstructed and arranged that the nut upon being cracked willimmediately fall through and another nut fall into place to be cracked.

That is claimed is- A machine for cracking palm-nuts, comprising arotary cylinder provided with projections or bars on its periphery, afence or barrier arranged in proper proximity and relation thereto, abar or projection on said fence or barrier which extends toward saidcylinder and is arranged at such a distance below the upper edge of thebarrier or fence as to constitute a recess capable of carrying a nut ora single row of nuts and allow the nuts to project above the upper edgeof the barrier while being cracked and forming a other nut or row ofnuts will fall into posicheck to the descent of the other nuts, a tiontobecracked,substantiallyas described.

downwardly-inclined trough or hopper ar- In testimony whereof I hereuntoaffix my ranged at one side or end of the machine for signature inpresence of two witnesses.

5 feeding a single nut or single row of nuts to EDWARD T. FENWIOK,

the machine to be cracked, the location and Administrator of the estateof .Hem'y O'Zaughposition of the bar or projection on the bar ton,deceased. rier or fence, with respect to the cylinder, \Vitnesses: beingsuch that a, nut or single row of nuts T. REED GLIFT,

:0 upon being cracked Will fall through and an- II. C. MEYNES.

